Bruin head women's basketball coach Cori Close announced today that Alyssia (a-LEE-see-uh) Brewer has signed a letter of intent to register at UCLA and has begun taking classes. Brewer who is transferring from the University of Tennessee will redshirt during the upcoming 2011-12 season and then play her senior season with the Bruins in 2012-13.

Brewer, a former Parade Magazine All-American who played high school ball at Sapulpa, OK HS, was at Tennessee for three seasons and averaged 6.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.9 blocks during her Lady Vol career.

As a freshman in 2008-09, she played in 33 games and averaged 5.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game overall and 4.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in Southeastern Conference games. She had seven double-figure scoring games in all during the season and recorded double-doubles against Louisiana Tech (16 p/ 12 r) and Auburn (11p / 15r).

As a sophomore in 2009-10, Brewer averaged 10.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest while seeing action in 34 games and making 13 starts. She made her first start against Texas and grabbed seven rebounds and scored four points. She scored a career-best 23 points in a game against George Washington. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament after leading her Lady Vol team to the title averaging 14.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg and connecting on 70.4 percent of her field goal attempts in the three-game set. Brewer also claimed the 2010 SEC 6th Woman of the Year award voted on by the league coaches.

Prior to her junior season in 2010-11, Brewer underwent surgery to repair a tear in her left Achilles tendon. She went on to play in 20 games and make seven starts while averaging 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game during that season.

"I have family out here and am looking forward to playing in front of them," said Brewer. "Cali is like a second home for me. I played two years of club basketball in California. The coaching staff at UCLA has been great. They genuinely care about the player and show it every second of the day. I had a really good feeling about coming here to go to school. I think I have a lot to offer the team with my post presence and versatility. I will do whatever is asked of me, whether that is getting a certain number of rebounds or if we need a quick basket or a defensive stop. I will use this year (redshirt) to get the time I need to fully recover so I am fully able to give 100% effort when cleared."

"Alyssia was one of the most highly recruited kids in the country coming out of high school and I feel very fortunate that she has chosen UCLA to finish out her college career," said coach Close. "She will get a year to get acclimated to our system and gain her full health. I expect her to be a major contributor to our team going forward."